On this day: December 17th

On this day: December 17th

There are many and several events on this day in history. Read and discover what happened on this day: On this day: December 17th

On this day: December 17th

Events On this day: December 17th

• 1538: Pope Paul III excommunicated King Henry VIII after he had declared himself supreme head of the Church in England.
• 1777: At Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, the Continental Army led by General George Washington settled in for the winter.
• 1790: Discovery of the Aztec calendar stone. Also known as the Stone of the Five Eras, the sculpture was excavated in Mexico City.
• 1843: Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is first published.
• 1903: The Wright Brothers make the first powered heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1971: The war between India and Pakistan over East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) ended as 90,000 Pakistani troops surrendered.
• 1989: The first episode of ‘The Simpsons’ airs on television.
• 2003: ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ is released worldwide. The film was based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien.
• 2010: The beginning of the Arab Spring. The multi-country protests and demands for change in the Arab world are thought to have begun with street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in Tunisia. Bouazizi’s attempt and death 18 days later were the catalysts for the Tunisian Revolution, which forced then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down from his post.
• 2010: Mohamed Bouazizi sets himself on fire. The Tunisian street vendor self-immolated as a protest against the economic conditions in Tunisia. He died 18 days later, at the age of 26. His protest and death were a catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and similar revolutions and protests around the Arab world.

Birthdays on this day: December 17th

• 1760: Deborah Sampson (1760-1827) was born in Plympton, Massachusetts. During the American Revolutionary War, she disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shurtleff. Although she was wounded in battle, she was not discovered until a severe fever unmasked her identity. She was dismissed from the army in 1783. In later life, she lectured professionally on her wartime experiences.
• 1770: Ludwig van Beethoven (German pianist, composer)
• 1778: Humphry Davy (English chemist, physicist)
• 1807: Poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts. His books of poetry include Legends of New England and Snowbound.
• 1936: Pope Francis (Current Pope of the Catholic Church)
• 1945: Ernie Hudson (Actor)
• 1946: Eugene Levy (Actor)
• 1973: Paula Radcliffe (English runner)
• 1975: Milla Jovovich (Actress and Model)
• 1978: Manny Pacquiao (Filipino boxer, politician)
• 1978: Chase Utley (Baseball Player)
• 1978: Manny Pacquiao (Boxer)

Deaths On this day: December 17th

• 1273: :Rumi (Persian mystic, poet)
• 1830: Simón Bolívar (Venezuelan commander)
• 1933: 13th Dalai Lama
• 2010: Captain Beefheart (American singer-songwriter)
• 2011: Kim Jong-il (North Korean politician, 2nd Supreme Leader of North Korea)

Read also: On this day: December 16th